Sunny Weather and Tight Racing Close Out Round #1 of the Sofina Foods US Open Presented by Fikse Wheels

Sunday saw the first event come to a conclusion at NOLA Motorsports Park for the opening round of the Sofina Foods US Open Presented by Fikse Wheels. The weather was sunny and MAXSpeed Entertainment never experienced a hiccup during the entire event, remaining on time every day and providing an unmatched streaming service. For the racers, nine drivers took home their respective first place trophies, with four classes taking place in the morning and three classes running in the afternoon.

Rolison Performance Group Rotax Senior MAX – The final for Senior MAX completed the dominating weekend for Oliver Askew. Qualifying on pole position and winning all but the second heat, Askew comfortably took the win in Rotax MAX Senior. Behind Askew, Austin Garrison was moving through the top-five, and eventually gained two positions on the last lap to finish the race in second.

Top-5

Oliver Askew

Austin Garrison (+2.381)

Trenton Estep (+2.634)

Darren Keane (+2.780)

Rinus Van Kalmthout (+2.959)

AM Engines Rotax Micro MAX – Micro MAX was another shakeup for the fans. Ashton Torgerson lost the lead early on in the race, dropping down to third position and eventually into fifth. Josh Pierson had a tremendous race, coming from eighth position to drag racing across the line with James Egozi. Pierson scored second with Diego Laroque taking home a near flawless victory.

Top-5

Diego Laroque

Josh Pierson (+2.084)

James Egozi (+2.099)

Carson Morgan (+5.012)

Ashton Togerson(+5.040)

Koene USA Rotax Junior MAX – Nick Brueckner was the top driver in the Junior MAX final. Leading over 90% of the race, Brueckner had some breathing room while Manuel Sulaiman and Reece Cohen battled for second position. Sulaiman passed for second on lap 17, and was poised to run down Brueckner. The race ended with Brueckner winning by a half-second gap.

Top-5

Nick Bruecker

Manuel Sulaiman (+.552)

Reece Cohen (+.683)

Ryan Macdermid (+5.168)

Mathias Ramirez-Barrero (+5.257)

Dallas Karting Complex Rotax DD2 MAX – Jeff Kingsley reigned supreme in the DD2 final category, driving to a clean sweep of the weekend. Winning the DD2 final by over five seconds, and setting the fastest lap by over five tenths, Kingsley had little to worry about. Dev Gore picked up a second position finish with Lawson Nagel finishing the top-three.

Top-5

Jeff Kingsley

Dev Gore (+5.515)

Lawson Nagel (16.182)

Nathan Mauel (Masters) (+16.479)

Rhett Thomas (+16.734)

Dallas Karting Complex Rotax DD2 MAX Masters – Nathan Mauel also completed his clean sweep of the weekend, easily racing against the Senior drivers and finishing just outside the top-three overall. Mauel finished fourth in the combined class in the final, several positions away from the nearest Masters driver. Luis Zervigon placed second in the category and Joseph Licciardi finished third.

Top-5

Nathan Mauel

Luis Zervigon (+7.470)

Joseph Licciardi (+19.127)

George Zarragoitia (+34.644)

Nicholas Pellerin (+1 lap)

Energy Kart USA Senior Shifter – Nick Neri was perfect once again in the Shifter class, winning over Sabre Cook by a margin of over three seconds. Cook, however, scored the fastest lap of the race while maintaining second position in the last half of the race. Sky Finley rounded out the top-three.

Top-5

Nick Neri

Sabre Cook (+3.606)

Sky Finley (+6.074)

Ben Schermerhorn (+10.683)

Austin Wilkins (+10.775)

MG Tires Shifter Masters – Ryan Kinnear was the highest placing Masters driver. Placing in seventh overall, Kinnear was never in danger of losing his lead but Chris Jennings put the pressure on Kinnear by never losing him in sight. Jennings placed ninth overall in Shifter.

Top-4

Ryan Kinnear

Chris Jennings (+2.134)

Jerry Rhodes (+1 lap)

Hugh Templeman (+1 lap)

PSL Karting Rotax Mini MAX – Tyler Gonzalez remained calm and in control as he ran the laps down, holding off Arias Deukmedjian in second position. Deukmedjian responded on the final lap, getting a run on Gonzalez and drag racing to the line, only to fall just short of overtaking. Jak Crawford rounded out the top-three, finishing the final just over two seconds behind Gonzalez.

Top-5

Tyler Gonzalez

Arias Deukmedjian (+.067)

Jak Crawford (+2.249)

Jeremy Fairbairn (+2.358)

Thomas Nepveu (+4.796)

Falcone GP Rotax MAX Masters – William Cleavelin won a huge victory in MAX Masters. Taking the lead over Scott Roberts early on in the race, Cleavelin led the entirety of the race and took home the victory. Roberts recovered to second position and Derek Wang rounded out the top-three.

Top-5

William Cleavelin

Scott Roberts (+3.354)

Derek Wang (+3.375)

John Robicheaux (+14.690)

David Pergande (+19.504)

The Sofina Foods US Open presented by Fikse Wheels next heads to the Utah Motorsports Campus in Tooele, Utah. Hosted on June 23-26, the event will be the mark the halfway point for the US Open schedule before heading to the finale at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas in November.